How I Pack Everything in a Personal Item Bag (One-Bag Travel Tips)

Everything you see here fits in this tiny backpack, and yes, it goes right underneath the airplane seat. No carry-on, no checked bag, and best of all, no baggage fees. This is my full one-bag minimalist travel setup, and it has completely changed the way I travel. If you're flying budget airlines, doing a quick weekend getaway, or just tired of hauling around too much stuff through the airport, this setup is lightweight, simple, and surprisingly spacious. So, why would you want to pack like this? When you only bring a small backpack, you move through airports quicker. You're not hunting for overhead bin space, and you're definitely not stressing about whether your carry-on will get checked at the gate last minute. On budget airlines, packing light literally saves you money. Those fees add up so quickly, and sometimes the bag costs more than the flight. A couple of weeks ago on our flight to Chicago on Sun Country, the carry-on baggage fee was $50 each way, which would have exceeded the price of our seat. Also, that's a good reminder to do some mental math in your head before deciding to book budget airlines. But when everything fits underneath the seat, you skip all of that. There's also just the mental freedom. When you pack less, you make fewer decisions, you lose fewer things, and you spend way less time on packing and repacking. Everything has a place, everything is easy to find, and honestly, once you try one bag travel, it is really hard to go back. Meg and I now notice every time we have to pack more than just our ultralight setup and just how much more work it is. To make a small bag work, you have to have a system, or in my case, a set of rules that guide me to pack smarter and lighter. These rules are a great reminder of things to think about before I actually start packing. I think they'll help you as well. Rule one, weight matters. Understand that if you're deciding between two options, always bring the option that's lighter. A good example of this would be a sweatshirt versus a puffy jacket. Rule two, capsule wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe is where every piece works with every other piece. For me, this is often neutral colors. Rule three, no just in case items. If you find yourself saying, well, I'll just bring that just in case, don't bring that item. To pack light, you need to pack only what you will 100% use, not what you think you might use. For most people, including myself, this is the hardest one and the one that also takes the most practice. Let me show you exactly how I pack. This is the exact setup I just used for a three-day trip to Chicago, starting with the bag. Recently, I've been using this one from BagSmart, which has been a good budget option for an under the seat backpack. Make sure whatever bag you choose, it is the right size. That is very important. These days, the under seat area seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Also, budget airlines will check the size and you have to pay way too much money to bring your bag onto the plane. For whatever reason, every airline has a slightly different size for what classifies as a personal item. Pay very close attention to the size of your bag. Keep in mind that if you're flying internationally, they might not have size limits, but rather weight limits as well. For clothes, I pack one pair of pants, a pair of shorts to sleep in or workout, three t-shirts, again, keeping them pretty simple and neutral colors, three pairs of socks, and three pairs of underwear. A good reminder to yourself is that you can always do a quick wash of anything in the sink or in the shower if needed and let them dry overnight. That gives me some peace of mind to not overpack clothes. All of this will go into a compression packing cube. For toiletries, I pack one soap and shampoo bar, a fingernail clipper, a small travel toothbrush, and then toothpaste. Sometimes I bring solid tabs and sometimes I bring a normal liquid travel size toothpaste. For me, I don't use any fancy shampoos, lotions, or makeup things, but if that is you, you should try to limit yourself to one small toiletry bag like this one or a small Ziploc bag. Next, we have my tech items. I have a small pouch with my three-in-one cable which will charge my phone and my headphones, my AirFly for Bluetooth entertainment on the plane, noise-canceling headphones. For camera, on a trip that I am not filming a lot, I will bring my Insta360 GO S3 and my phone. And lastly, I'll bring my travel charging block. Other items I pack are my collapsible water bottle or this lightweight one from Owala. I will also pack this packable tote from Peak Design. All of these items will be linked below if you're interested in checking them out. Also, don't forget about your airplane outfit. Stick with the capsule wardrobe theme and layers are important to be comfortable in all situations. If you do plan to pack a clothing item that is a bit heavier or is bulky, I would recommend wearing it to the airport. So, that's my ultralight minimalist one-bag travel setup. It's lightweight, it's simple, and honestly, it's made traveling way less stressful and I don't dread packing. Remember the rules. Weight matters, capsule wardrobe, and leave the just-in-case items at home. With this strategy, you should be well on your way to a better travel life with one-bag travel. If you're thinking about trying one-bag travel, let me know down in the comments what your biggest challenge is when it comes to packing light. If you found value in this video, I would also recommend watching this video here to learn how to better fold your clothes for travel. 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